Today is exactly 14 weeks until my next half-marathon. It’s actually perfect timing since there is just enough time to get in a full training schedule with starting right at the new year.
I have been doing my best to get back into my training routine in recent weeks, but it’s definitely a little difficult to do that over the holidays and when it is freezing outside every morning. So the official training started New Year’s Day. But 14 weeks is a little bit of a short training period. I think I have done 16 week plans in the past, but I also was starting from basically nothing rather than comfortable with a 5K like I am right now. So this just means that we have to literally hit the ground running!

I have gotten in a little over 5 miles in the past few days, with a short “long run” of 2 miles to start off so I can build from there. (The “long run” will be the one that continues to increase by about a mile every week and the in-between runs will focus more on pace and speed than distance.) I am still trying to figure out what the best schedule will be for cross-training and the shorter runs, but I am hoping that I have put together a good plan. The biggest challenge is going to be waking up earlier in the morning. Like, really early. Especially when it’s only 25-degrees outside… or lower.
So far I have been feeling good about this race. I am starting off feeling good and mentally ready. Like I said, the winter runs are not a lot of fun, but perhaps this means that those final long runs will be a little easier as we thaw out during that time. I know that I need to continue to be good about stretching and taking care of my muscles, because for both of my half-marathons, I have wound up with some difficult hip and leg pain during training.
It feels good to be running again. But we’ll have to see how good 5 a.m. feels…